<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Lantern's Light by thefairhero</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412358">Lantern's Light</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefairhero/pseuds/thefairhero'>thefairhero</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alex and Luke aren't actually in this but they are discussed so I tagged them, Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Fluff, Gen, Napping, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-Canon, Sleepy Cuddles, Softness, Tenderness, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, can you tell Reggie is my favorite, can you tell i'm touch starved, it can be Julie/Reggie if you really want ig, this is just aimless feel-good snuggly times</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:35:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,853</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28412358</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefairhero/pseuds/thefairhero</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie opens up her blanket and makes grabby hands at him, nuzzling her face into her pillow for good measure. Reggie understands immediately and scrambles up, nearly tripping on his own feet which makes her stifle a laugh. He kicks off his shoes and shrugs off his jacket, and he’s snuggled in next to her in a matter of seconds. Julie rolls over onto her front, slinging an arm around his waist and using his chest as a pillow. His arms wrap around her as if it’s an instinct, holding her like she’s a teddy bear, like she’s the only thing that matters in the world. Thanks to his one-track mind, she thinks, maybe in this moment, to him, she is. She likes that thought. </p><p>“Nap time?” he says, voice softer than before. </p><p>She nods, enjoying the feeling of his t-shirt on her cheek. “Nap time,” she confirms. </p><p>--<br/>(Or, in which Julie loves her boys and Reggie is the absolute best nap buddy)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Julie Molina &amp; Reggie Peters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>187</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lantern's Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Reggie is the best to nap with, Julie decides. The others aren’t <em>bad</em>, not by a long shot. Alex is always gentle and sweet, and Luke will hum softly until she drifts off. But Luke is restless, moves around a lot when he sleeps, and Alex gets tentative sometimes, second guessing himself and if he’s allowed to give her the affection she is more than happy to receive.</p><p>But Reggie. Reggie will hold her close, run soothing fingers through her hair or up and down her back, and his flannel is soft against her skin. He’ll press kisses to her cheeks and her forehead and anywhere else he can reach, and even his smell is comforting, the smoke of a campfire mixed with a sea breeze. Yeah, he’s <em>definitely </em>the best to nap with.</p><p>Which is why he has been given a permanent exemption to her room’s ghost ban. He’s always welcome, more than welcome. And she’s just gotten home on a Friday afternoon and crawled under her covers, and she wants him now.</p><p>Julie closes her eyes and imagines the thrum of a bass, his leather jacket, his megawatt smile, and gives a little pull. Reggie pops into her room in a seated position (he’d been hanging out with her dad, she guesses) and falls unceremoniously to her floor. Yet another post-Orpheum perk: she could now call her boys to her whenever she wanted, and she was definitely abusing that power.</p><p>He blinks in surprise for a moment at the change of scenery, then looks up to her with that bright grin of his that she loves, giving a little wave. “Oh. Hi, Julie!” Not at all irritated or even phased by being poofed into a different room because <em>she’s </em>there, and affection swells in her chest at that realization. God, she loves him. Feels so loved <em>by</em> him.</p><p>Julie opens up her blanket and makes grabby hands at him, nuzzling her face into her pillow for good measure. Reggie understands immediately and scrambles up, nearly tripping on his own feet which makes her stifle a laugh. He kicks off his shoes and shrugs off his jacket, and he’s snuggled in next to her in a matter of seconds. Julie rolls over onto her front, slinging an arm around his waist and using his chest as a pillow. His arms wrap around her as if it’s an instinct, holding her like she’s a teddy bear, like she’s the only thing that matters in the world. Thanks to his one-track mind, she thinks, maybe in this moment, to him, she is. She likes that thought.</p><p>“Nap time?” he says, voice softer than before.</p><p>She nods, enjoying the feeling of his t-shirt on her cheek. “Nap time,” she confirms.</p><p>And though she can’t see it, she can practically feel his smile in her bones. She smiles too and cuddles in closer, taking a deep breath and releasing it as a sigh that takes with it all of the tension from the school day that she hadn’t even realized she was carrying. Now, there are no more calculus problems to solve or Spanish verbs to conjugate. It’s just her and Reggie, warm and sweet and safe Reggie, who has started to rub her back with just the right amount of pressure. It’s impossible not to relax and melt at the feeling, not that she would ever resist, and she nuzzles into him to show her appreciation.</p><p>He gives an infectious little chuckle at that, and she tries to sound indignant. “Don’t laugh at me, Reginald.”</p><p>“‘M not,” he says, audibly biting back another laugh, and she grumbles.</p><p>But then he squeezes her in a little hug, rocking her back and forth, and presses a kiss to the top of her head and she gives up the act. She’s way too much of a sucker for his affections to ever stay mad at him, even as a joke, and and he knows it, using it to his advantage frequently. Honestly, it’s <em>unfair</em>. Julie has figured out how to resist Alex and even Luke’s attempts to get back on her good side, but Reggie is impossible to resist.</p><p>She’ll never admit it, but that’s one of the things she loves most about him. It’s just too easy to be happy around him, feel soft and relaxed and <em>good</em>. Reggie melts away tension like the wash of a lantern’s light over shadows, leaving nothing but a warm golden glow she is drawn to like a butterfly. (Yes, she knows that’s a thing moths do, not butterflies. But Julie has a <em>brand</em> to maintain, and she thinks any of her boys would be aghast if she were to compare herself to a moth.)</p><p>She reaches up, hand over Reggie’s torso, and she revels for what feels like the millionth time in her ability to finally touch them. It had ached, those long weeks before the Orpheum of having them so close yet still too far away to reach out and touch, like the universe was mocking her. But now they’re <em>here</em>, tangible, just shy of being alive. Luke can take her hand or drape an arm across her shoulders or nudge her when he gets excited about a lyric they’ve written. Alex can hug her or give her piggyback rides or guide her face to make her look at him when he comforts her. And Reggie, sweet sweet Reggie, can pick her up and spin her around, play with her hair, lead her into a twirl, tug her closer to see or do something with him, boop her nose when he’s teasing her, just be a solid, comforting presence beneath her like he is now, and she’s so unbelievably grateful.</p><p>Her hand finds the pendant of his necklace and she rolls it between her fingers. “You always wear this,” she murmurs, quiet so as not to disturb the peace of the moment. “Is there a story behind it?”</p><p>“Luke gave it to me,” Reggie says. “When I turned 17. It’s got all our names on it.”</p><p>Julie looks up at it. The little bar with four faces, each with an engraving: <em>Luke. Alex. Reggie. Bobby.</em> Then, she notices the bottom face, just a tiny little square. It has an engraving of its own, not neat and professionally done like the others, but scratched in by hand with something like a pushpin.</p><p>“Is… is this a J?” she breathes.</p><p>Reggie gives a sheepish laugh that makes his chest rumble. He isn’t usually one to get sheepish about anything. “Oh, um, yeah. There wasn’t room to fit your whole name, but. Yeah.”</p><p>She clutches the pendant tight, feeling tears spring into her eyes. “I love it.”</p><p>“You do?”</p><p>She pushes herself up a bit, meets his eyes so he can see how earnest she is. “I really, really love it, Reg.”</p><p>His smile lights up her room, and she can’t keep looking at it or she might actually cry, so instead she buries her face back into his chest.</p><p>His fingertips begin to trace light, aimless patterns on her back and she smiles and sighs. “Feels nice,” she mumbles, then yawns. She’s so sleepy all of a sudden, thoughts fuzzy around the edges, her whole being soaked in contentment. If someone were to ask her what bliss feels like, she’d say this.</p><p>“Go to sleep, Jules,” Reggie coaxes. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”</p><p>She yawns again and cuddles a little closer. With his promise settled in her heart, she lets herself drift off to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.</p>
<hr/><p>She starts to stir at the feeling of being gently shaken. True to his word, Reggie is still there despite the afternoon light streaming through her curtains having been chased away by the orange glow of an LA sunset.  He shakes her again.</p><p>“Julie?” She doesn’t acknowledge it. “Jules, you gotta get up.”</p><p>“Nooo,” she whines, hiding her face inside his flannel. He’s far too warm and comfortable, and tendrils of sleep still curl temptingly at the edges of her mind.</p><p>“Your dad called for dinner.”</p><p>“Five more minutes.”</p><p>He jostles her again, but she just grumbles and clings onto him stubbornly. He gives a deep, dramatic sigh and wraps his arms around her again, holding her tight.</p><p>“Fine, you leave me no choice.”</p><p>She thinks she’s won for a moment and lets out a sleepy, victorious hum.</p><p>It quickly turns into a yelp though because all of a sudden he’s <em>tickling</em> her, right where he knows she’s extra sensitive. And he’s holding her against him, purposely at such an angle that she can’t hope to grab his hands, so all she can do is squirm and laugh into him.</p><p>“Reggie!” she squeals in protest, instantly wide awake.</p><p>“Yes, Jules?” he says. She can hear the affectionate grin in his voice, and dammit, he has <em>no</em> right to use that sweet tone when he’s doing this.</p><p>“Let me <em>gohoho!</em>”</p><p>“But I thought you wanted to stay.”</p><p>“Nohohoho!”</p><p>“Do you not love me anymore?”</p><p>“You’re beheheing mean,” she manages through her laughter. “My dad’s gonna hear mehehehe!”</p><p>“Maybe you should be quieter then.”</p><p>She muffles her reactions into his torso while simultaneously trying to push him away, and maybe it’s not the most efficient method but she’s fighting instinct with instinct, the urge to escape his fingers wiggling expertly into her ribs versus the desire to stay pressed against him.</p><p>He’s way too good at this, though, knows exactly how to drive her up the wall, so the urge to get away wins.</p><p>“I can’t get uhuhup if you’re holding onto mehehehehe!”</p><p>“Are you <em>sure</em> you’re gonna get up?” he says, and she knows he’s just trying to draw it out at this point.</p><p>“Yehehes!”</p><p>“Are you sure you’re sure?”</p><p>“Reggie!”</p><p>He finally lets up and Julie collapses against him, trying to catch her breath through her lingering giggles. Once she has, she sits up (totally not still smiling) and lightly smacks his arm.</p><p>“That’s cheating and you know it.”</p><p>His remorseless grin widens as he sits up too and presses a kiss to her cheek. Yeah, he really does know how to get back on her good side. Maybe, secretly, she thinks, this is far from the worst way to wake up.</p><p>Julie gets up and stops in front of her mirror. She rubs the remaining sleep out of her eyes, then tries to make her hair a little more presentable. It’s all mussed up, either from her nap or her thrashing or a combination of the two. Before she can process it, Reggie’s behind her, digging fingers into her sides again, and she squawks and jolts away.</p><p>“Your dad is waiting for you,” he says, metaphorical halo above his head.</p><p>She whirls around and points and accusing finger at him.  “I’m getting you back the second I get a chance.”</p><p>He just smiles his sunny smile at her and poofs out.</p><p>She shakes her head, something between exasperated and fond, and tries to suppress a smile even though no one’s there to see it as she heads downstairs.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Heya! This is my first time posting a JATP fic, or anything on AO3, so I hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think in the comments, and if you have any prompts for future stuff I might just write em! I have a couple of other things in the works, but those are looking like they'll be longer-form works. Also, you can visit me on tumblr @aintbragginifitstrue :) Have a wonderful day and happy almost new years!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>